The American Heart Association recognized Capital Region Medical Center with its fourth consecutive GoldPlus Get with the Guidelines-Stroke Quality Achievement Award.
The award recognizes CRMC for its commitment to ensuring stroke patients receive the most appropriate treatment, leading to more saved lives, according to a CRMC news release.
Get with the Guidelines-Stroke is an in-hospital program that promotes consistent to adherence to evidence-based guidelines, which can minimize long-term effects of strokes and prevent deaths.
Stroke is the fifth-leading cause of deaths, and a leading cause of disability in the United States. Strokes occur when blood vessels that carry oxygen and nutrients the brain burst or are blocked by a clot. When this happens, part of the brain cannot get enough blood and oxygen, so brain cells die.
Early stroke detection and treatment are key improving survival, minimizing disability and accelerating recovery times.
When stroke patients arrive at the CRMC emergency room, doctors assess them to determine if they meet criteria for a clot-busting medication. If the patient requires a mechanical clot retrieval technique, they are transferred to University Hospital in Columbia.